Production diary content

During the pre-production I was an actor (extra) in the “dreamer party” scene, a boom operator in the “incubus advertisement” scene and a set designer for the set of “Sam’s Room”.

As an actor (extra) in the “dreamer party” scene I had to play the part of a dreamer. There were nine people including me at the party. During the party everyone had to crowd around a monitor as one person wore the Incubus and the rest watched their dream n the monitor. I was one of the people who was watching the dream on the monitor. Three people sat on a sofa, but I sat on the ground cross-legged. During the scene I had to pretend to be watching something on the monitor (an old laptop on a table in front of everyone). During the scene the two main characters arrived at the party and when they arrived the people at the party at to glance up at them (so I had to do that too). Then, both main characters used the Incubus to share their dreams with the other people at the party. This meant that those who watching their dreams had to react to them. Both dreams were funny/embarrassing, so we had to pretend to laugh. Although, at the end of one of the dreams there was some disturbing content and so then we had to pretend to look shocked and concerned. This was my second time being an actor in a film. I was excited to experience this. I had a great time! I had to wear a costume and get my hair and makeup done. I don’t wear makeup, so this was the first time I had some on. It felt weird when it was being put on me although, I look great with it on. The makeup made me look older. For my hair I had to use a lot of hairspray and so my hair felt hard and like a wig. I really enjoyed my costume and I took a lot of selfies so I would always remember what a fun time I had wearing it. One thing that I found difficult when acting was having to wait in between filming takes. We had to stay on set for many hours because we shot the scene many times. When we were not shooting, we still had to be in our spots until we shot the scene again. I had to be patient and my leg muscles became sore because I had to sit with my legs crossed during each scene for a certain amount of time. Although, I knew that all the pain would pay off because the footage would be great.

Dreamer Party Scene:

Hair and Make-up:

As a boom operator in the “incubus advertisement” scene I had to hold the boom stick with he mike above the actor’s mouth so that when they spoke the sound of the dialogue was picked up. I had to adjust the mike so that it was turned towards the actor’s mouth so that the only sound I captured was the sound coming from the actor’s mouth. I stood on a wooden box outside the set and held/ extended the boom stick into the set with both of my hands. One thing that I found difficult when being the boom operator was having to make sure that when I held the boom stick that it did not move into the camera’s frame and appear in the shot. This was difficult because I struggled with this three times. I also had to make sure that I held the mike steadily so that the sound was clear. I wore headphones so that I could hear the sound I was catching and make sure that it was good quality sound. I had to hold the boom stick for a certain amount of time and once the camera was filming and I had to keep the boom stick in the same position the whole time. My arm muscles got sore because I was holding the boom stick for a long time. My hand muscles also got sore because I was firmly gripping the boom stick in the right position for so long. My leg muscles got sore because I had to stand tall for a long time. My feet muscles got sore and numb because I put a lot of pressure on them when I was standing. Although after each take I was able to rest and so I felt better when I was ready for another take. Being part of the sound team was a great experience because the sound is a very important element of a film. Without the sound, you would not be able to hear what the characters were saying. You also have to make sure that the quality of the sound is good so that the audience can understand what the characters are saying. So, being part of the sound team made me feel like I was helping to create something significant.

The Sound Team:

The Incubus Advert Set:

The Incubus Advert Scene:

As a set designer for the set for “Sam’s Room”, I had to help set up and organise all the props on the set and make sure that everything on the set was in good condition. Some things that I helped with was to find different kinds of posters on the internet and then print them out so that they could decorate the walls and flat surfaces in “Sam’s Room”. I decorated the walls using movie and music posters. I used pins or blue-tack to hang the posters. I also had to rearrange some of the posters. I had to make sure that there was no reflected light on any of the walls so that they were not a distraction on camera. I had to cover any empty wall space with posters so that there was no reflected light. This was difficult because I had to identify the area on the camera monitor and then find it on the set and be able to cover up the area and still keep the set well arranged. I was glad to help with this because making sure that the set was ready and in good condition was significant.

Sam’s Bedroom Set:

Props (Posters Overview):

Sam and Charlie’s Band Poster:

Music & Movie Posters:

I thought that we were well prepared for the shoot. We had all the equipment we needed for the sets, the make up, the hair, and the filming process (camera, sound etc.).

A day of the shoot went something like this… Everyone had to arrive around 8 am. This was early and many people were till tired but we needed a ll the time we could get. Then, the actors had to get their costumes on and their hair and makeup done. The set designers had to get the set ready. Then, the camera and sound crew had to get their equipment ready for the shoot. By 10 am the set would be ready and the actors would be ready. So, the actors would go on set and rehearse their lines and roles with the director before shooting started.  Once the actors were ready and everyone in the camera and sound team were ready, the First AD would call for quietness on set and everyone would get into their positions. Then, one by one the camera and sound crews would indicate that thy were ready to shoot. Once everyone was ready the director would call “action” and the scene would start. Then, after the first take the director would tell the actors what they needed to improve for the next take. Everyone else (the sound and camera crews) would be told what they needed to improve on as well. Then, everyone would get ready for another take. This process would repeat until the director was satisfied with the amount of takes that were shot. This process would take a while and by the time we had a break everyone would be looking forward to a break because they had worked so hard. Our day would be a 12 hour period (8am- 8pm). Lunch and dinner would be the longest breaks. For lunch and dinner we had food available or people would go to the Fish and Chip shop or the Co-Op in Clifton Village to get food before coming back to eat.

On set I closely worked with the other actors, the sound team and the set design team. I got to know my team members better because we were together for a long period of time. It as great to work with people who have all different skills and be able to learn from them and give support when needed.

I believe that people acted appropriately on set. There were very few behavioural issues to deal with. Everyone was focused on their roles so that everything was done properly. Communication was carried out well. When people needed help they looked for help.

I learned that a crew work together by doing their own roles but then bringing their roles together to make the shoot successful. The crew is like an assembly line in a factory. Everyone has something to contribute to to make the main product. I learned that during a shoot everyone must do their role well because each role is important. If someone is unsure or has a problem it affects the outcome. So, everyone must support each other so that everything is done correctly. I felt that the crew worked well together on set. Everyone preformed their roles well. People were productive, patient and supportive with each other and this made the process go smoothly.

Some of the pressures of working on a film shoot is that you have to do your role correctly, you got to be patient with everyone, and you got to be willing to be supportive to others if they are struggling. Everyone is working as a team so everyone is pressured to work effectively so that there are no problems that will delay the process. People must be understanding with each other because everyone has different skills. If their are problems then people are pressured to help each other out to find solutions so that the process goes okay.

Dealing with technical difficulties was a challenge that we had to face together during the shoot. For example, when equipment or props had issues that needed to be fixed we had to work together as a team to find a solution to solve the issues. But, we also had to be willing to help out when a problem was presented to us and we had to be patient and clam so that we could solve the problem properly and not waste any time.

I felt that I worked well with my team. I preformed my roles effectively so that everyone else could do their roles successfully as well.I gave people support when they needed it. I listened to my team mates advice, so that I could improve and do my roles better.

I was given advice when I was operating the boom. Some of my team mates had used the boom previously during the shoot and so they had the experience and were able to give me advice when I needed it because it was difficult to use sometimes.

I was able to improve my knowledge because I gained more experience as we repeatedly shot the scenes. Each time I preformed my role I improved a little bit. When I made a mistake I found out how to correct it so that next time I could try to not make the same mistake. For example, I improved my skills with the boom. I made the same mistake three times (got the mick in the camera’s frame). Although, i was able to correct myself during the rest of the shoot.

Overall, I believe the shoot was successful! We all worked very hard to get enough footage. We were able to successfully shoot the scenes we needed in the time that we had. We were able to work as a team so that everyone did their roles well. We were able to get all the equipment and props we needed in order to shoot our scenes. We were all able to be present for the shoot so that everyone did their correct role. Mostly, there were good things that happened. Although, a few things that were an issue was that: some people did not have enough things to do when they were not doing their roles (people just sat around), some people showed up late, so we had to work for longer periods of time and we had some technical difficulties because of the equipment and props (even though we were able to fix everything and solve the technical difficulties so it did not affect the outcome of the production).

Overall, we worked together as a great team and finished our two day shoot with not a lot of problems. Although, if we needed to improve on something it would be to improve on things that we were not good at during our roles so that next time we have to do something like this we will be better.